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That's the word most likely to be heard at city hall next week as city council delves into a $44 million capital budget containing 103 items.

By comparison, last year's capital budget was $25.7 million.

The reason for the major increase?

Infrastructure.

“Infrastructure renewal and management accounts for $35.6 million of that budget,” said city treasurer Brian Cousins. “There's a lot of issues out there. There's a serious gap between what we do spend and what we should be spending on infrastructure. We'll never make it up.”

Big ticket items included in the budget — which will go under the knife Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday when council meets — include $13.5 million for the replacement of the CPR overpass on Bay Bridge Road off Dundas Street West, $3.1 million for water and sewer work and reconstruction on North Park Gardens, $2.2 million for the Sidney Street water main replacement and $3.75 million to erect two new solar farms.

But, Cousins said, it's the investment in infrastructure that is most needed as aging pipes, outdated roads and old buildings are demanding attention. And that attention means money.

Mayor Neil Ellis noted the city owns $3.4 billion worth of assets which, for years, went ignored. City council is now left with the dubious job of either investing and fixing the problem or ignoring it.

“Staff's got to present a financial plan and when you look at infrastructure we've inherited, like any other city, a major deficit left behind from past councils' ability to have an effective asset management plan with budgeting enough to address managing those assets,” he said.

“The infrastructure deficit, if you look at the FCM (Federation of Canadian Municipalities) report it says with roads, waste water and water each Canadian household is about $15,000 in debt for infrastructure.”

In 2009, the city had a report completed by Dillon Consultants and which noted if the city wanted to properly maintain its assets it would have to spend $24 million annually for upgrading. That report, Cousins said, is slated to be updated in 2013.

“Once that's completed it's going to be able to help us identify, effectively, what needs to be addressed,” he said.

Ellis said the city has had record growth and industry remains a driving factor in Belleville and, with that growth, comes the need to repair old infrastructure. Not doing so, he said, means infrastructure will only deteriorate and the financial gap will widen.

He said the city needs to move forward, not sit still.

“Delaying infrastructure and these projects won't make it go away,” he said.

Ensuring the projects are completed may mean looking at another revenue sources such as borrowing.

The mayor said the city could tap in to provincial loans with three per cent interest. It's time that loan program be considered as a viable option.

“We have to look after ourselves and put some of these projects forward. With all-time low interest rates and the ability to finance the money over 20 years, locked in, council has to look at that and do the projects that are needed for survival, be it economic survival or liability survival on bridges and roads caving in.”